Marjorie Hylton’s Promise

DESPITE their shortcomings, Marjorie Hylton is extremely proud of her 45 children, so much so that just talking about them brings tears to her eyes. Hylton is the founder and principal of the Promise Learning Centre in St Andrew, which for the past 16 years, has been a place of refuge for autistic children. The school is the only one of its kind in Jamaica and was borne from her desire to provide a nurturing environment for children with special needs.

“It was my intention to be a special education teacher, I did not want to be just a regular teacher. I wanted to do something more than just ordinary teaching and I thought teaching special needs children would give me that fulfilment, and it certainly has,” Hylton said as she fought without much success to prevent the tears from forming.

This drive to become a special education teacher started from the time Hylton was attending the Bellefield Primary School in Manchester. She easily recalls the incident that acted as a catalyst for the decision which has since shaped so many young lives.

“I remember in primary school, there was this girl, she was from a wealthy family, but cognitively there was nothing going on for her, so students use to call her ‘dunce’ in those days. I found that I was the person who she gravitated to as a poor little girl and she used to entice me by giving me sweets and nice stuff that I couldn’t afford [in exchange for] doing her work,” Hylton said.

Today, being able to witness her students’ achievement is the only form of enticement Hylton needs. Her students’ level of disability ranges from mild to severe. As such, just seeing a 12-year-old being potty trained or hearing a 15-year-old speak for the first time, is like striking gold in a competition for her.

“It gives me that push to go on, and somehow I don’t see anything else that I would want to go into than being with these children,” she said.

Shortly after graduating from the Bishop Gibson High School in Manchester, Hylton went on to the Mico Teachers College, where she earned her diploma in special education. She then went to Canada to get further training on how to deal with autistic children.

Still not satisfied, the 44-year-old upgraded her skills at the University of the West Indies, Mona, where she earned her degree in Special Education with first class honours. She has just a month more to go before she completes her Masters in Educational Psychology and is already looking forward to pursuing her PhD. Her experience dealing with autistic children has made her studies much easier.

“I could write a book based on my experience… I have actually seen it and lived it and felt it. The wealth of knowledge that we have at Promise Learning Centre is more than books can tell,” she explained.

She added: “I like seeing the achievements that the children make daily, it might be an ounce or an inch of achievement, but trust me, it is rewarding.”

And as if on queue, the tears start falling.

Hylton has two biological children and has been married for the past 13 years to Darrington Hylton. After seeing how dedicated his wife was to the cause, Mr Hylton left his job to assist his wife in her cause to help special needs children.

“My husband is a great support, he is a tower of strength. As a matter fact he left his business to join me two years after I started here. He is the rock behind all of this and as a man he pushes behind me,” she said.

The two met while attending a prep school that her husband’s mother started in Kingston. Mr Hylton remembers giving Marjorie piggy-back rides from school in the evenings. But after his wife went to live in Manchester with her grandmother at the age of seven, the communication stopped between the two. It wasn’t until his wife came back to Kingston to attend the Mico Teachers College, that the two started corresponding again.

Mr Hylton describes his wife as a special woman who was called by God to carry out an important duty.

“I recognised the need for helping her and being there for her. As the business grew she needed me more, and I realised that I needed to be closer to her,” he said.

The job has literally brought them closer together, as the two share a small office space adjoining the school. While the job keeps them busy for extremely long hours, Mr Hylton is just glad that his wife still finds the time to create her sumptuous menus, which she finds very therapeutic.

While the job is fulfilling, it is a sacrifice for the two, especially when one considers the fact that training autistic children can be costly.

“We don’t operate at a profit. We go with this thing because of the passion, the commitment we have and the dedication. It is not a money thing. When monthend comes, we don’t take home a paycheque, we make sure that everybody gets something which means that we don’t get any,” Hylton said.

The school is able to continue because of the school fees they receive, and the fund-raising activities chaired by parents. The Government also gave the school a grant last year and has pledged to give a small subvention every year.

But finances is just one of many challenges the couple have to face. Hylton says some parents are usually in self-denial after finding out that their child is autistic. As such they do not get children from the onset, which means that they have more work to do.

“We have that challenge to break the barrier that is there, the social barrier, the communication barrier, the language barrier, to help that child to develop a basic skill, such as even bathing themselves,” she said.

But the couple has been drawing their strength from each other and from God. Both are devout Christians and pastor a church at the centre. Hylton, upon graduating from the Mico Teachers College, also moved on to get her diploma in ministerial training. So in addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations of the school, the two have to be working on sermons during the week.

She said she is flooded with calls from parents locally and oversees who want their children to be educated at Promise Learning Centre, but right now space is an issue.

“People need a place to have their children schooled, because no matter how they push them in the regular school, the children are just squeezed out because they cannot function in the regular environment,” she said.

“It is rewarding and that’s why we continue. We know that the blessing comes from God, we may not see it physically, but we know God is blessing us,” she said.

wilsonn@jamaicaobserver.com